Site works will start next spring, with commercial operation scheduled for mid-2014.

The facility will cost an estimated €340 million. The Egyptian government will stump up 20% of this, with the rest coming in loans. Lead arranger Germany's KfW development bank will provide €192 million, the European Investment Bank €50 million and the European Union €30 million.

So far Gamesa has supplied 405MW of the 550MW turning in Egypt. The country is targeting around 7.2GW of installed capacity by 2020, as part of its aim to satisfy 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by that date.

While the energy minister recently reiterated this goal, the forthcoming elections introduce an element of uncertainty.